Meetings
by seaweedfma
Summary: Both Ed and Roy find out that fate has a strange way of bringing people back again. Roy comes back to Central, and so does Ed. Roy Mustang x Edward Elric. Rated K. Spoilers for the end of the first series and the movie.


Title: Meetings  
Author: Seaweed Otter

Requester: **tl_dr**  
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist  
Pairing: Roy Mustang x Edward Elric  
Rating: PG  
Word count: 2487  
Warnings: End of series spoilers. Possibly AU?  
Summary: Life has a funny way of throwing people back together again.  
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine. (DUH)  
A/N: For the prompt- Roy and Ed somehow meet again. Roy is a broken man, and Ed is shocked at how just how much it has to do with him. Sorry I didn't make it more yaoi or even more relationship driven. I hope this can still count.

***

The move from the Northern Outpost back to Central Command had been a fairly easy one. He had taken very little with him when he was stationed up north, and one truck was more than enough for him and the meager belongings that he cared enough not to leave behind to fit into. Mostly, they were alchemy books, a few personal pictures and his clothing and toiletries.

Even though the trip by loud, bumpy truck took much longer than it would have taken by train, he didn't mind too much. For the trip back, it was only him and the truck driver- and thankfully the driver wasn't the very talkative sort, either. Roy really didn't feel much like chatting anyways.

It took three days for them to reach their destination. The high, rocky cliffs slowly gave way to grassy, rolling hills. Eventually, the hills flattened into vast, broad, wavy plains of wheat and corn. Finally, small cities started to dot the roadsides. Small cities became large ones, until they all merged together into the thriving metropolis that is Central City.

Roy knew that he should have been happy to come back. All of his former subordinates were there, and they were going to be under his command again. He had seen them briefly in the conflict that had happened a few months before, but he had hardly been able to do more than bark out a few orders to them.

As soon as the fighting had ceased, he wasted no time in heading back north again. He knew that it was inevitable that he would get the letter- the one inviting him back to Central, with not only a full reinstatement of his rank, but a promotion to Brigadier General. When he had been called back to Central the first time to fight those mysterious suits of armor, he had been temporarily given the rank of General, but now it seemed like a done deal that it would become permanent.

He should have been happy that he was rising up the ranks, going back to Central with his former solider under his command and another star on his shoulder. He should have been, but he wasn't. He kept telling himself that this was just temporary, that it was a melancholy that would work its way out and he would fine, the cocky, proud alchemist that he had once been.

But he didn't believe that himself.

Deep down, he knew why. He knew why he would lay awake at night, staring at the ceiling with is single eye- unblinking until his eye started to water and physically hurt. He would finally blink then, attempting to ignore the tear running down his already stained cheek. Some nights he would drink himself into oblivion. At least then the could collapse on the bed- if he was able to make it, or more usually it was the couch, and try to forget why he felt so miserable. But all the hurt and pain would only go away for so long. In the morning, it would be back, his mental pain now enhanced by the physical pain of his hangover.

As much as he tried to tell himself that he didn't care about the boy- no- he was a young man now, he knew that it was a boldfaced lie.

He had done a good job the first time he had seen Ed in two years. His hair was back in a ponytail, and it was longer. He had been wearing some strange dress that Roy tried not to admit to himself looked extraordinarily handsome on the man. He had kept his emotions well hidden under the mask that he had worn in front of everyone for as long as he could remember. But his heart soared when he saw Edward again, a little taller, a little stronger, and every bit the young, prodigious alchemist that he had been at 10 when he first laid eyes on the boy.

The exchange between them had been all too brief. Almost as soon as it started, it had ended, with Ed and his brother on one of the other world's weird flying contraptions, and orders to close the gate on this side.

Roy had never claimed not to be a coward, and this was one of those times when it got the best of him. He knew that he was supposed to close the gate, but he knew that if he did, there would be absolutely no way that he would ever get to see Ed again. He knew that it was very dangerous to keep it open. There was no telling if something would try to come through again, but he couldn't deal with the finality of closing the gate that held the man he cared for.

He would never admit it to anyone, even himself, but he cared for Ed.

That night, just like most other nights recently, he poured himself a drink and slumped into his oversized chair, drinking and hoping that the pain would finally start to fade out over time.

So far it hadn't.

___________________________________________________________________

Blackness.

Utter blackness, deeper than he had ever seen or felt before. Blackness so deep that it filled all of his senses- sight, smell, hearing, touch, it was all black. He felt like he was falling, or maybe he was moving upwards. It was impossible to tell in the utter void that he existed in. He could have been there for a second, or a year. There was no way to tell any semblance of space or time.

Then, a light. It was small at first, tinier than a pinpoint. It started to grow, slowly at first, like he was moving towards it. He tried to speak, but the blackness swallowed his very breath. The light was rushing up faster now. His mouth opened in a silent scream. He tried to brace himself with his hands, but they seemed to be made of lead. He was helplessly tumbling through the void and into the light, not sure which way was up.

There was only black. Then, there was only light.

* * *

A colonel found the man, broken and bloodied, in a small ditch just outside the parade grounds. He was cold to the touch and partially naked, the few clothes that were wrapped around his tattered form were strange, foreign garments.

A short time later, the young man was in a hospital bed in Central Headquarters. He had no identification on him, and he seemed to be feverish and delusional, alternately asking for someone named Al and someone named Winry. None of the doctors or nurses who those people were. He languished in and out of semi-consciousness for several days before one of the orderlies happened to be in the room during one of the man's brief lapses into clarity.

"Where am I? Where is Al?" the man asked, wide eyes glassy, forehead moist and clammy.

"I don't know who that is sir, or who you are." The orderly answered. "You are pretty beaten up. But you are in Central- at the hospital."

"I need to find my brother, Al. Where is he?" Before the orderly could reply, he fell back to the bed, unconscious.

* * *

It didn't take long after that for word to filter around Central Command about the young man that was found inside the military compound. As soon as Roy heard about it, he knew. He had no idea how, but he somehow just knew who it was in that hospital bed.

The morning stretched on forever until he could sneak away to the hospital at lunchtime. He had drank enough coffee to drown a man. He had drunk enough coffee to drown a man, and his already shot nerves were making him a nervous wreck while he waited for noon to finally roll around.

Right at the stroke of noon, he threw down his pen, in the middle of a signature, and told Hawkeye that he was going to visit the mysterious man that everyone was talking about.

"Isn't that a job for the police?" Hawkeye asked, hardly pausing while cleaning her gun.

"Maybe, but he was found on military grounds, so he is either a soldier, or someone who somehow snuck onto military property. Either way, we need to find out how he got there."

Hawkeye sighed. She was smart enough to know that there was more going on than the man was letting on. They both knew full well that if it was a military issue, then the Investigations department would be the one to handle it. The problem was that she also knew how stubborn Roy Mustang was. If he wanted to do something, then he would do it, one way or another. And if he didn't want to tell her more, he wouldn't- even at the point of her gun.

"Okay, sir. Be back in an hour. You have a meeting at 1300 hours." Roy didn't even bother responding. He was most of the way out of the office and through the door before she was done speaking.

He alternated running and walking when he got tired to make it the several large city blocks between Central Command and the hospital on the other side of the grounds.

"Where is that unknown man that they found? This is official military business."

The nurse at the front desk took a quick look at him and his uniform and frowned. "I'm sorry, Corporal-"

"My name is Brigadier General Roy Mustang, and I need to know where he is, now!" He clenched his fists, barely contained rage bubbling inside, his black eye burning fiercely.

"Y-yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir. He is in room 118, first floor, just down the hall, here." She stood up with a shaky hand and pointed down the hallway, to her left.

"Thank you." he said curtly, and rushed down the hallway until he found the one marked '118'. For a moment, he was frozen to the spot, halting at the door with one hand on the doorknob. What would he find inside, he wondered? Would he remember who he was or where he was? Anyone? Anything?

"Only one way to find out." He muttered, opening the door slowly.

The room reeked of antiseptic and disinfectant, a smell that brought back flashes of memories from years ago- when he was a broken, beaten man with one eye and little to live for.

It scared him how little had actually changed.

"Colonel, is that you, bastard?" His voice was weak and raspy, but a litter deeper than he had remembered it before. The boy was now a man. Even under the bandages and covers he could see that he was taller and stronger than before. Roy tried as hard as he could to suppress his smile, but still it came, unbidden, to his face.

"Yes, Fullmetal. It's me." He took a few steps through the doorway where he had paused, his heart up in his throat, and closed the door behind him with a soft click. The act of breathing didn't seem to come naturally to him any more.

"You look like shit." A short pause. "And you don't need to call me 'Fullmetal' any more. I don't think I belong to the military, now."

A million questions popped into Roy's head. He wasn't sure where to begin. Before he could even start to unscramble the mess that was his mind, without thinking he blurted out "Speak for yourself. What happened to you?" Immediately, he realized the stupidity of what he said, and he grimaced- expecting to get an outburst of a reply from the younger alchemist. Instead, Ed merely, smiled- a knowing, mischievous smile.

"Still trying to goad me into getting pissed off at you, huh? Some things never change. I bet you must have missed not having me to pick on."

'Oh how I missed you. You have no idea'. He wanted to say. He almost did, opening his mouth before catching himself and closing it again. He sighed and pulled up a chair, scooting it close to the side of the bed. "I did." He admitted in a low voice, barely over a whisper. He bit his lip before he blurted out anything else that he would regret.

Ed looked confused for a moment, then a smile of realization hit him. "You- you really did miss me, didn't you, Colonel?"

"Brigadier General." He said in a low, soft, monotone voice.

"Brigadier General." Ed corrected himself. Confusion and realization slowly turned to shock as it dawned on him what Roy was admitting without any words. He could see it in the man's face. "I get it now, Mustang. Don't lie to me. You didn't miss someone to pick on. You really missed ME."

Roy sighed again, resting his head in his hands. "Yes, Edward. I did. I missed how easy it was to get you angry, and the little tantrums you would throw, and the way when you went storming around the room how your ponytail and your jacked would fly after you, fluttering in your wake." He looked down into his hands, not able to look the young man in his eyes. "I.. I missed everything about you."

Ed cocked his head, trying to reason with what he was hearing. This wasn't the cocky Colonel that he used to know. This was a broken soldier, tossed away to make room for the younger, stronger men who would follow orders ceaselessly and not buckle under the immense stress. A younger, less mature Edward would have taken advantage of the obviously fragile man. But for some reason, he found that he didn't have the heart to do it. In fact, he felt rather sorry for the myopic man.

"I... well, I missed this place, too- you and the rest of the guys here in Central. It is nice to be back."

"It's good to have you back, Full- Edward." The smile on the alchemist's face was genuine, warm. It was a smile that appeared so seldom. For once, his face belayed his emotions- excitement, relief, and most of all, happiness. It was so rare to see the mask that Roy always wore in front of people crumble and fall, revealing his true feelings. Ed saw all of this, and he smiled in return.

"Mustang?"

"Yeah, Edward?"

I'm tired. I'm sorry. I wanna talk more, this is nice. I have so much to catch up on, but I need to rest."

"That's okay. my lunch hour is almost over, but I will come back tonight after work to check up on you, okay?"

"Alright. See ya, Mustang." Ed closed his eyes, already starting to drift off.

"See you later, Ed." Roy whispered, getting up and softly closing the door behind him with one last long look over his shoulder at the now slumbering man.

"Rest well."


End file.
